Good article on the cover about an athlete who has switched over to a high fat diet.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Doc_Stevens_breaks_through__5494.html


She is a prime example of someone making the switch and getting good results. Lower calories on race day and no more GI problems. I would like to know what she does consume carb wise while racing.

She has food allergies, her performance was improved by eliminating those foods, it's not an endorsement for any specific diet.

---

-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

They didn't get into details in the article. I've been listening to her on different podcasts over the last year and that (fat) is the diet change that helped.

Yes because she is Celiac. So she had to address that. Her being faster may be attributable to her diet and being able to handle nutrition better but it has nothing to do with whether or not high fat is a preferable diet over high carb for anyone else.

---

-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

Agreed on the allergies. However, there is some empirical data indicating this type of diet as a good thing for endurance athletes. Ben Greenfield has a number of references in his book, Beyond Training. Also, here is an article discussing a high protein / fat diet instead of a high carb approach: http://www.sciencedaily.com/.../11/151117091234.htm

This

Ben Greenfield also believes in magic bracelets.

---

-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

No, there isn't. And, Ben Greenfield is a snake oil salesman. Mentioning him is a good way to kill your credibility in reputable circles.

---

____________________________________________
Don Larkin
Reach For More
http://www.reachformore.fit/
USAT Lvl1 Coach, NSCA-CPT, NASM-CPT, BS Exercise Science

Good thing in what sense? Another article from Ben Greenfield shows some dangers of a high fat diet: http://blog.wellnessfx.com/...-carb-high-fat-diet/.

There are many studies. Some suggest high fat is good for some reasons. Some suggest high carb is good for other reasons.

I was listening to Ben Greenfield on EndurancePlanet the other day (link). At the time of the recording he was fasting for 12 hours overnight, then eating low carb during the day, and eating carbs in the evening; for various science-backed reasons. The main core of the podcast was in relation to insulin sensitivity and how that impacts whether you should eat low/high carb at various point.

I had a friend once say the three most hostile and polarizing topics are religion, politics, and nutrition. Anyhow, my point wasn't to declare this as the best approach or decry it as the worst. Rather to add a perspective to the discussion. As for Greenfield, one thing I appreciated about his book was that he offered both sides of multiple arguments as well as additional research on each perspective. I guess that is actually two things I appreciated about his book. Likewise, as a person that loves to learn I always look at the other side of my perspective on given topics to figure out where an approach is flawed or not. I actually made a similar change to my diet about a year ago and loved it. However, what works for one person doesn't work for others. So, how about those politics...

Apologies if you know something personally about Amanda's day to day diet that isn't in article but no where in that article does it say low carb diet or high fat diet.....

I'd certainly agree with her that 400+ kcals per hour in an IM excessively high for someone of her stature.

---

David T-D
http://www.tilburydavis.com

The conclusion I am gathering from these studies is this:

If your goal is to burn more fat, than low carb is the diet to choose.

The studies have shown no benefit with performance or endurance, only that you will burn more fat.

This doesn't mean some people wont race better with a low cab diet, they will, but as an effect of a food allergy or GI distress, not from being fat adapted.

Here is a thought I had the other night, I could be totally out of it but it made some sense to me- People talk about paleo and how our ancestors ate mostly a high protein and fat diet with a small amount of carbs.
Look at most vegetables and fruits, they are mostly carbohydrates, then the occasional animal, wild game, its mostly very lean.
This looks like a diet of high carb with some protein and a little fat.

No apologies needed.

As I said earlier, all I know is what she has said on different podcasts that she has been on. They didn't mention any of these details in the article. The gist of it was, FOR HER, the high fat diet helped fix many of her problems.

It's not as much about performance as it is limiting health risks of excessive starch or sugar intake. I spell out details of this (and the study) here:

Part 1: http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/...ch-fat-can-you-burn/

Part 2: http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/...-fat-can-you-burn-2/

---

Ben Greenfield

Nutrition & Human Performance Advice
http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com

Thanks for linking I enjoyed the read, before I ask let me say I have listened to your podcasts and read your blogs for many years, before I started triathlon and endurance sports, when I was on a low carb diet for over a year, typically less than 50g of carbs per day. I respect your knowledge, its far more than I have, I am not challenging you, just looking to get my learn on.

The study says low carb is 20% carbohydrate, so an average athlete consuming a 3000c diet that would be about 150 grams of carbohydrate. Is this going to put most people in ketosis or is that not necessary.

You mention one benefit of low carb is better sleep, in my experience my sleep quality declined, that was one of the main reasons I stopped a low carb diet. I actually got to the point I wasn't sure if I slept or was awake the whole night.

For someone to take full advantage of this can you have a high carb day on occasion, lets say once very 2 weeks or will this negate any adaptions made without a "re feed" day.

Yeah, that's the mistake most athletes make. They follow the trickle-down advice from the kind of dietary ketosis recommendations for, say, people who are managing a medical condition like MS or epilepsy, and then the athlete tries to apply that same amount of carbohydrate restriction to a heavily active lifestyle. It simply doesn't work and results in some seriously poor workouts and shoddy health. During my Ironman training I was able to maintain ketosis just fine with 100 g of carbohydrates on less active days and up to 200 g of carbohydrates on more active days.

I'm working on article now about some newer methods for achieving ketosis, such as powdered MCT's, keto salts, etc., so stay tuned.

---

Ben Greenfield

Nutrition & Human Performance Advice
http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com